The first question that I asked iSPIRT volunteers running PNCamp, the first ever bootcamp exclusively focused on product entrepreneurs in India, was why Pune?

They pointed to Dilip Ittyera whose greying strands of hair masks his passion to firmly perch Pune on the product map of India.

Google has been investing in startups via Google Ventures and today, the behemoth has launched Google Capital.

The main difference is that Google Ventures invests in early stage companies while Google Capital will invest in growth stage companies.

Product Nation interviewed Vishnu Tambi, CEO of Excellon Software to understand the key aspects that helped him to create a successful product company working out of a tier-2 city.

In this discussion, Vishnu shares his experiences dealing with Indian customers and tips for succeeding in the Indian market.

At 29, Pallav Nadhani has more than $5 million in his bank account, owns a Rs 47-crore business with offices in Bangalore and Kolkata, is married and drives a BMW.

Kolkata, though, was a new world for the young Nadhani.

There are almost 900 million active cell-phone users in India now, and from newer startups to some of the biggest companies in the world, everybody is chasing the next mobile disruption that could potentially result in a business model for all of the emerging markets.

One such startup is Ezetap, a mobile payment company backed by some of the biggest names in the VC industry, including Chamath Palihapitiya, a former Facebook executive and founder of Social+Capital Partnership, and Angelprime, an Indian seed fund run by serial entrepreneurs.

Screw Business as Usual by Richard Branson: Founder of the Virgin Group, everyone knows Richard Branson as one of the most incredible, famous and admired entrepreneurs out there.

As the founder of a social enterprise called LSTN Headphones, I often look to companies and entrepreneurs I admire for advice on navigating our growing business while continuing our mission to do well while doing good.

We will start the evening with Robert Scoble having a fireside chat with David Glickman, founder of Lively.

He is the founder of Spark59 and also the author of ‘Running Lean’.

The key to raising these odds is prioritizing learning around what’s riskiest (not easiest) in the business model.

As Bob McKim, founder of Stanford’s product design program, and "lateral thinking" pioneer Edward de Bono have found, when you use drawing to express an idea instead of words or numbers, you engage a different part of the brain.

A few years ago, he was overwhelmed by the work he faced as founder of VTA Method, a tutoring company.

"Train your employees, then go on vacation," says Vanessa Van Edwards, founder of Science of People, a Portland, Oregon-based consulting firm.

Sean Blagsvedt, founder of Babajob, an Indian portal for informal jobs, agrees with Sridharan.

Anu Sridharan, 26, is the founder of NextDrop, an SMS-based water tool, that’s received funding from Knight Foundation to find a solution to India’s water woes.

As you may know, I’m the Founder of Sevenly.org.

Toby Daniels, entrepreneur and founder of the social media agency Crowdcentric, agrees.

Marysol Patton, reality television star and founder of the public relations firm, The Patton Group, understands how to navigate the world of social of media for the good and the bad to get the best benefit for her clients and herself.

“In retrospect, I think I significantly underestimated the size of the opportunity,” says Elikem Nutifafa Kuenyehia, founder of Oxford & Beaumont in Ghana.

“To be honest, the main driver behind my returning home was simply to go back home, as I had become tired of living in the West,” said Elikem Nutifafa Kuenyehia, founder of Oxford & Beaumont, a law firm with offices in Accra and London.

on Tuesday and Thursday or has a circle of friends outside of their business that they get dinner with every Saturday night has variety in their life.

Creative Director at TBWA and founder of bleepbleeps, Tom Evans discusses ditching the day job and getting his hands dirty in the name of technology.

It all came together when I found this great piece of advice for startups from Paul Graham (founder of Y Combinator) I was struck that it had tremendous parallels for the communications industry too.

Founder of WhatsApp was turned down a job by both Twitter and Facebook before he created our most used messaging tool.

Not only does a pilot help you understand the business model better, but also shows the investor that you have put in effort in testing the feasibility of the idea.

Even at early stages, when the business model is its formative stages, it is important to attract the right team – a team that believes in the idea and is willing and capable to execute.

Last week I met a founder of an up and coming company.

The problem here though is that if you ask 100 potential investors where they think the business should go, you’ll get 100 different answers (and rightfully so).